By Michel Outridge

DURING this pandemic it has been challenging for many; most of us had to quickly adapt to changes such as working from home and adhering to a curfew.

Like the rest of us, teachers haven’t been excluded, they have been trying their best to schoolchildren online and with whatever resources they have at hand.

Teachers Leona, Lydia and Syretta Fredericks all reside in the same house in Stewartville and have been utilising a single aged-desktop to have online schooling with their pupils and students.

Leona told the Pepperpot Magazine that they are originally from Leonora, the neighbouring village, but have made Stewartville Second Street, West Coast Demerara, their home.

They would often be referred to as the ‘house of teachers’, their mother was a teacher but has since retired.

“Teaching wasn’t out first choice for a career but over the years we developed a great passion for it despite the challenges it comes with,” Leona said.

She is attached to the Leonora Primary School and has been a teacher for the past 20 years, a job she takes seriously.

While her sibling, the youngest, Lydia, a primary school teacher has been in the profession for 19 years and her eldest sister, Syretta, a secondary school teacher for the past 15 years.

“I was the first of my siblings to become a teacher. At that time when I was looking for a job even though I am qualified I did not get any response from the agencies I applied in writing to, so I applied for a teaching job and was successful, thus my career as a teacher started,” she said.

Leona reported that while on the job, she finished out her CPCE training.

“This job is not easy but it brings out the best in me because the little ones depend on me to show up for classes and it is quite nice to have that classroom interaction and plus I get the respect of both pupils and parents alike.”

The veteran teacher added that wherever she passes students (both present and past), they would call out for her and it is a good feeling being remembered as a teacher.

Fredericks stated that since schools closed in March this year due to the novel Coronavirus, it has been difficult, but they have been trying to home-school pupils and students via online sessions on weekdays.

“As is, we share an old desktop computer so we take turns using it and it has been challenging, because as teachers we coordinate and have different online sessions from Monday to Friday,” she said.

The teacher stated that she would mostly use her phone to teach her pupils at different times in the day from 09:00hrs to after lunch with a few intervals.

Fredericks told the Pepperpot Magazine that they have literacy, grammar, social studies, and language classes among others for the pupils which number about 20 between four teachers from her school.

Sadly, though some pupils don’t have access to the internet and are missing out on the online classes as such, an assessment cannot be done because they are not receiving any home-schooling via distant learning.

In total, Fredericks has nine siblings, her father is deceased and her mother is retired.

Leona and her sisters are very passionate about teaching and with the resources they have they are promoting home-schooling via the internet.